Kimkim Trip Reviews

The views, trails, wildlife, plant life and accommodation were utterly fantastic and alone are enough to leave anyone astounded by what Rio and the mountains surrounding the state have to show; but we can’t give enough gratitude towards our guides, Lucas and Thalles for their constant humility, insight, care, humour and undying humanity. We trekked through the clouds, through the heat, through the mud and through the rain with total confidence and total assurance - we often sang. The days and the time spent around those two guys are unforgettable and so too because of that are the trails and views. I can’t recommend it enough. Even down to being catered for, I had no idea they were carrying our breakfast and dinner on their backs too - and it was delicious.
Thank you Lucas. Thank you Thalles. Thank you Rio.

This trip to Morocco was an absolute dream!!! I’m never going back to planning my own trips again. Every detail was thought through, and I was prepared for everything.

Brahim was absolutely incredible, from planning the trip together all the way to when we had an issue getting to our last bus and he sent someone to find us and make sure we made it okay.

We loved every hotel, and the recommendations for restaurants that were given to us were always incredible.

Our driver and tour guide from Marrakesh to Fez, Rashid, was a god send. He showed us so many things we never would have known to see, and even took us to the place where we ended up buying our rug. He took photos of us the entire time and made us feel safe and taught us so much.

Overall, we can’t stop raving about our trip and about KimKim and about Brahim. We will definitely be using the service again.

I booked a last minute (quite literally) trip to Myanmar and arranged a trekking experience with the help of Monica and her team. Monica was instrumental in ensuring an absolute seamless travel experience and I got a lot more out of my travels than I expected. I couldn't recommend Monica highly enough, she is very pleasant to speak to, highly knowledgable and assisted in putting together a pacakage that fit exactly the kind of trip I wanted to have - in my case a solo, genuine experience of Myanmar and the local tradition and culture. Thanks again Monica for going above and beyond - I had a great time and now look forward to returning!

We found dealing with Raisa very easy and she responding promptly to all our questions in the planning and lead up to this trip. The itinerary was very comprehensive and busy which suited us although with hindsight we did miss out on a few things (Guide in Jerash) and a tour of Amman which was not included. Some of the hotels were not up to a standard that we would like and in need of maintenance (faulty leaking showers) but overall we had a terrific trip.

The itinerary was excellent as it was varied - however I had mentioned to Sandun that due to relatively recent spinal surgery I did not want to do major hill/rock climbing - this was overlooked. We were instructed by our guide Thilak to climb Lion Rock and trek the Horton's Plains trail. I did manage both excursions however was really worried (freaking out) when climbing to Lion Rock - I was terrified that I would fall. Luckily I had a very helpful guide on the Horton's Plains Trek who helped me negotiate the tricky bits. We did not do the last trek as I felt that I might not make it to the top.
Everything about the trip was memorable - so many wonderful sights were seen - though I guess we really enjoyed the Safaris.
Thilak also added in a few excursions which were good - in particular the Village Visit. Though with these excursions we felt pressure to buy products.
We found the Sri Lankan people to be friendly and welcoming.

We had the most phenomenal trip , a lifetime of memories and experiences over the 10 days. The hotels were all fabulous, the guides informative, knowledgeable and helpful and the choice of destinations and activities were perfect.
Our favorite guides were Aung in Yangon, Jery in Mandalay and Min Min in Inle Lake.
I would highly recommend KimKim to organise the best highlight tour of Myanmar to take account of your special requests, adapt the itinerary to suit your preferences and overall give you a holiday experience of a lifetime.
The balloon flight in Bagan was the highlight!

Our Costa Rica trip was awesome and excellently put together and organized by Randall. Everything went exactly according to plan and the quality of the guides on the various tours and activities were first class.
Everything from our pick up at the airport, to our final drop off was precisely on time and all guides and drivers spoke excellent English which made communication so much easier.
We have absolutely no issues or complaints regarding any aspect of the trip and would absolutely recommend kimkim to anyone seeking a high quality tailor made trip to an exotic destination.

My mom and I did a custom 9-day tour of Morocco in December of 2018. Booking the tour, I communicated back and forth with Larbi - he was always very timely in his response and very professional.
Said, was our driver and guide for 6 days (no guide in Marrakesh) and he was wonderful! My mom and I had the best time. Said did above and beyond what he was supposed to do - even took us to some local places to eat and took me to Starbucks in Marrakech. "Thank you, Said. You are the best!"
Tour started in Casablanca (Day 1) - we did not really spend a lot of time there since our flight arrived pretty late but we were able to see the mosque the next morning.
Day 2 - Chefchaouen - we loved this place - it was charming! Great place for those eye-catching Instagram photos.
Day 3 - On the way to Fes but stopped off in Meknes - a smaller version of Fes. The shopkeepers were a little more forceful about selling so I did not enjoy this place as much. Volubilis - saw Roman ruins - nice place for photos as well. Arrived in Fes at night.
Day 4 - Fes all day with a different guide. Our guide was El Hadi - he was great too! Explained the different things we were seeing. Guided us through the medina (which was confusing). Got some awesome deals on Argan oil, some scarves and pottery. Opted out of the tanneries - I knew my nose would not be able to hack it. Went to different sights as well - old city, new city, viewpoints from old watchtowers, where you can see great views of the city.
Day 5 - En route to the Desert - stopped by Erfoud (where our guide Said - a resident of the city) - took us where we could purchase trilobites for my brother. Middle Atlas mountain - we stopped by and saw Barbary monkeys on the road - fed them peanuts and gave some stray dogs some of our leftovers from breakfast. At the end of this day - we arrived in the Sahara desert - took a camel ride for an hour (our guide was Mustafa) to our camp. Great place to watch the stars. It was really cold!!! But I would rather be cold than hot, so just be prepared if you are planning on going in the winter.
Day 6 - Breakfast in the camp. Cold morning but got up early to watch the sunrise, then another hour camel ride back to meet our guide Said. Saved some of the apples from dinner and fed it to our camels. We stopped by a local market (Rissani) then went to see Todra Gorge - were able to take nice photos here. We slept in Ouarzazate (nice sleepy town).
Day 7 - Hiked up Ait Benhaddou - great scenery. Stopped off in a few places as well while en route to Marrakech. Arrived in Marrakech late afternoon.
Day 8 and 9 - My mom and I did want we do best - SHOP. We also enjoyed watching the exciting shows in the Jemaa el Fna Square.
We met Larbi in Marrakech - "Thank you for meeting with us, Larbi!"
All in all, it was an awesome "once in a lifetime experience!" - Will we do it again? YES!!! Totally worth it.

We had a fantastic trip to Colombia over the 2018 winter holiday break. For a family of four, Nathalie Clavet helped personalize and customize our Colombia trip experience and provided a multitude of options for us to select from as we were in the planning stages. While in Colombia, Nathalie and her colleague, Mathilde, took care of us, checking in and were available to help us with any additional questions. Thank you Nathalie! My family and I really had a memorable time in Colombia and we can't wait to visit again!

A very good trip. Tatiana and Pablo were great guides and we all enjoyed the places we were at. Favorites were Bogota and Salento. Great food and lots of fun.
Just a few hiccups, not unexpected in South America.
Some suggestions for future travelers around Christmastime.
Do Salento on the 24th and Christmas Day. Everything is open there.
Do the coffee farm in Salento on one of the days instead of Cocondo. Too many bugs at Cocondo. We all got eaten up despite the repellent.
Don't do Medellin on the 24th. Everything is closed.
Thanks.
Ezra

Emily and Erin were SO helpful throughout the entire process. It was a trip of a lifetime, and we couldn’t have done it without them. Highly recommend this trip and KimKim to anyone looking for adventure!

It was an amazing trip and exceeded my expectation! Despite I was there during the dry season so it was a pity that I did not see the beautiful reflection, I saw the breathtaking flamingo and Red Lagoon and I took many amazing photos. Andrea is an excellent guide, and she is very friendly and informative. I would say she is a huge plus for our trip. All the accommodations we had for the four days were great, and the food they provided either by hotels or our guide was delicious. I really feel I mad either right decision by choosing Kimkim.

Our driver, Driss, was fantastic. I can't say enough good things about him, however, since we did not use kimkim to book our accomodation, there were a few issues getting to our hostels. I sent our flight and accommodation itinerary for the entire trip to kimkim prior to our arrival but our driver was not given any of this information. I listed check in and out dates, addresses and phone numbers, so I assumed that directions to locations would be figured out in advance. Again, I do not believe this is the fault of our driver, but rather a miscommunication on kimkims part. I found the online itinerary a bit misleading. It says "explore the maze like city with a local guide" in Fes. Yet kimkim provided no guide so we used a guide from our hostel (that we had to pay for). We needed to be at our hostel in Merzouga by 4pm to start our camel trek yet this info wasn't sent to our driver so we didn't make it until 5. We were very lucky that our hostel waited for us but they weren't happy about it. It says that you'll visit Rissani for a local market and donkey parking lot, which we didn't see. It then says you'll take "a river walk through the Todra Gorge." Most of the things advertised are really just quick photo stops. There was a lot of driving and the majority of the day was spent in the car. I don't believe this was made clear through the itinerary. And I believe if we had known this we would have planned our days differently. We very much enjoyed all of the places we stayed but would have appreciated more communication/organization from kimkim. This was our first time using a tour company. We paid $800 for a driver. Having a driver was a huge advantage compared to taking the bus, but I felt like there was a bit of false advertising when it came to the rest of the itinerary. Overall I'm very happy we had Driss as our driver and that we used a tour service because we only had a short time in Morocco. After our trip I'm left with the question of whether or not hiring our own driver would have been a cheaper option since we didn't feel as fufilled by the other things kimkim advertised.

I would, and have recommended Kimkim to help plan any trip. We used them for the first time to help plan our trip to Croatia and had such a good experience we used them again for Vietnam. Victor made planning so easy, from helping with the itinerary, booking hotels and internal flights, private tours with great guides, transfers and getting our visa letters. He was always available if we had any questions while in Vietnam.
Khai was a great guide in Ho Chi Minh City and thanks to him we made our flights to Danang when there was a small problem at the airport with our names. The Vespa tour we went on one evening with Linda and her team was one our favorite things.
In Hoi An, we were well taken care of by our guide Than. Our hotel there, Golden Holiday, was the best and Hoi An was amazing.
Last but not least, our guide Anh in Hanoi was fantastic. She is energetic and loved telling us all sorts things about Vietnam life.
Needless to say thanks to Victor and his team we had one of the best trips we have ever taken and loved every minute of Vietnam.

Our trip was fantastic!!! Everyone in my family enjoyed it! The tour company, Darcar tours, that we had our driver and our tour guide through were outstanding. Super knowledgeable, patient with my kids, and very flexible. They had excellent suggestions throughout the tour to accommodate our needs, even on our arrival day when our flight was delayed. They communicated very easily with us and offered insider knowledge about every facet of Ecuador. Selfides, our chofer was excellent. He had a wealth of knowledge about plants, animals, foods and unique culture in Ecuador. David, our tour guide, was professional, knowledgeable, and extremely flexible and patient with our young children. He made sure to give us all of the highlights while considering their ages and our time constraints. The tour itinerary Matthias gave us was excellent and creative. We saw some really off the beaten path things including the artisans of Peguche and the cooking class. The Hacienda Pensaqui, although historical, charming, and set in a beautiful landscape, was unfortunately dirty. There was dust everywhere. The food was mediocre, and the office staff were very unorganized. Apparently, the owner passed away a year ago and is now being cared for by his family. It appears very run down which is a shame because it has such potential! We still loved our stay there due to its historical charm and familial feel, however, I think it is necessary that you be aware that it may not be what it once was. The cooking class was phenomenal!!! Chef Edwin was funny, patient, and extremely talented! My kids participated in everything and loved it!!! Termas de Papallactas was exactly as we had hoped. Relaxing, breathtaking views, and good service.

We loved our stay in the Andes Mountains of Quito and would love to return!!! I will use KImKim again for sure! It was so much less stressful and may be our new way of travel. Thanks again!!!

From the moment I ‘found’ Kripa I knew we were in safe hands. Her suggestions and recommendations were exactly what we wanted. She and her colleagues accommodated our every need-including bringing extra bags to the airport so we could repack before leaving on a domestic flight! We stayed at two beautiful places in the Chitwan, played golf in Kathmandu and finished with a fun day wizzing through the streets on the back of vespas eating momos-perfect. Thankyou Kripa.

After eight days in the Galapagos we enjoyed our short trip to Cotopaxi National Park. The park was beautiful with grand vistas and beautiful canyons. Frank, our guide, was knowledgeable and attentive. He provided strong support throughout the trip. Tambopaxi lodge was lovely and the food was exceptional. The southern refuge was unique with gracious staff and epic views. We have a number of really enjoyable treks.

The rating was based on two reasons. 1.) Of the five planned treks we completed only two. This was due to the weather that made one of the treks impossible and two others miserable. Feedback from local guides was that this weather was expected for time of year. Understand weather can be unpredictable at altitude, but there should have been better planning to ensure we had alternative itineraries. 2.) Logistics were not ideal. Transportation was provided in a 1980s era Toyota Land Rover. Perfect for the rough roads of the national park. However, no seat belts in the back for lengthy highway trip. Both coming and going we were packed very tightly into back seat with camp staff. And on our return trip took a lengthy diversion to drop off family members. Not a huge issue, but not ideal logistics.

All in all, good experience. Enjoyed Cotopaxi National Park and would endorse Frank as a guide. Would have like to see stronger planning to maximize our stay.

Highlights: Wadi Rum, Jerash; Okay-lights: Petra, Dead Sea, the driver, the hotels; Lowlight: Aqaba.

Wadi Rum was by far the main highlight of the trip that absolutely exceeded our expectations. The place is indescribably beautiful, and the Aicha Memories Luxury Camp had the best accommodation and the best food of the entire trip. Jerash was the second favourite – quite surprisingly!

Azzam was an excellent, professional driver. He was particularly courteous towards the end of the trip. He couldn't answer some of our questions, not sure if it was due to lack of knowledge or lack of English, but generally his service was very good. Usually we drove in complete silence, no talking or music. Azzam didn't quite follow the timings and itinerary we were given in Vamoos (e.g. we didn’t go to the Karak castle, but we went to Mount Nebo and a church in Madaba instead), perhaps for the better? I also had to remind Azzam to take us to Hejaz Railway.

Overall, we would have liked more information, particularly on things to do and things not to do, and especially when we were left alone. E.g. in Petra – what routes to take, what sights to see, which routes are more (or less) strenuous, is the ride with horses included in the ticket or not (because every Bedouin was shouting a different thing), can we trust the Bedouins to take us up to various viewpoints, how about the camel and the donkey rides, how much should we pay them, etc. I also only later found out that Petra opens earlier, so it would have been nicer to start the trip earlier to avoid the crowds or perhaps even see the sunrise.

Aqaba was a disaster. When we arrived at noon, we were too late to go on any boat trips that day, and we didn't have enough time to do the trip the following day since we had to leave at noon again. And yet snorkelling was in our itinerary, so I'm not sure how we were meant to fit it in. Worse was that we were not advised by In2Jordan that the public beach is not advisable for tourists. We were harassed at the public beach by the locals (note: we were dressed!), and even after we left the beach 10 minutes after entering, we got followed by two scary local guys for a good half an hour until we finally managed to lose them. Our hotel told us we could pay extra to enter a private beach of another hotel nearby, but with 1 hour left to sunset, it was not worth it anymore. Surely if the point was to relax by the sea, the agency should have informed us of these crucial details in advance of the trip, i.e. don’t go to the public beach, note the prices of private beaches (or, ideally, book a hotel with a private beach) and note timing of snorkelling trips while planning itinerary. Finally, leaving Aqaba for New Year’s Eve was also a bad idea, since the hotel only had a really badly organised evening with an overpriced buffet where not a single dish was nice, and we didn’t feel too safe going out in the city in the dark. So, it would have been more memorable, had we spent it in Wadi Rum.

Small note regarding Jordan Pass: I explicitly asked which pass to buy, since the Wanderer (the cheapest) covers 1 day in Petra, and the Explorer – 2 days, and we had 1 afternoon in little Petra and 1 day in “main” Petra in the itinerary. We were advised to get the Jordan Explorer pass, but we could have bought the cheapest pass since little Petra is free of charge… It’s not a huge amount of money, but still, In2Jordan / Carmen should have known better.

Regarding other hotels: the Hayat Zaman 5* hotel in Petra was very atmospheric and we expected it to be the best, but it was the only hotel in the entire trip without air conditioning or wifi in rooms. At the reception, they told us about a 24/7 pool, but the pool hadn’t been cleaned or used for months and the whole area was locked; the food was very good though. Regarding other accommodation, hotel in Madaba was very poor (looks and food wise), but the staff was lovely and helpful; the Dead Sea hotel was clearly catered for large tourist groups and generally only had bad food.

Overall it felt like the itinerary was more suited for large tour groups than a family except for the time we spent in Wadi Rum, and we missed the added value of getting that insider information by booking from a local agency as opposed to doing it ourselves. Still, we enjoyed it greatly, bar the issues I’ve mentioned above that made the trip ever to slightly more tiresome than it needed to be.

Everyghing that KimKim helped coordinate, including guides, was excellent. Jorge, our KimKim agent really helped make this a perfect family vacation.

Erin is excellent. She was incredibly helpful while planning our time in Patagonia, and was always available to answer any questions. While in our trip, she went above and beyond to make sure we were set (we forgot our immigration papers while in a national park, and she coordinated getting them to us). You couldn't be in better hands.